Ambitious coach takes Pearl-Cohn reins

Raymond Pratcher wants to bring back the glory years of Pearl-Cohn boys basketball.

Bringing back respectability, though, may be a more realistic objective — at least, immediately.

The Firebirds, who advanced to the 1998 Class AAA state semifinals, endured three losing streaks of eight games or more over the past two seasons. This past season, they lost 11 of their final 12 games to close out a 5-22 record under former Coach Vic Wharton. In 2008-09, they dropped 12 in a row and finished just 2-24.

Enter Pratcher, who has been on the Pearl-Cohn faculty while serving as the freshman boys coach at Hillsboro. In two years with the Burros, his teams won the ’09 city championship and advanced to the ’10 semifinals, posting a total record of 34-4.

“I think there’s a lot of talent in the north Nashville area, and that the program can be rebuilt to where it was when they went to the state tournament,” said Pratcher, 31, a Memphis native. “They need to be taught fundamentals and to realize they can win.

“Hopefully I can bring that winning tradition back and build the program back up. I think it’ll be a great situation. I think we have a lot of support and it’s just about providing more guidance.”